Friday, 31 August 2007

There is an interesting article in Saturday's Australian Age that profiles the well known British philosopher A C Grayling.

Grayling argues that the press should have published the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. He argues that the criticism of religious belief is "the rent that has to be paid in a free society. This is a lesson Muslims have got to learn." The lesson, he says, is that mocking a belief is quite different from mocking an individual. "Many Muslims take it personally. But it's not about them personally."

He also argues that, "our effort to accommodate Muslim sensitivities has to be met by an equal effort (from Muslims) to accommodate ours. A lot of westerners are deeply offended by the sight of a woman in a burqa".